U.S.on the clock to return to orbit

Boeing, ULA work to reset manned launch capabilities

8:35 AM,
Nov. 26, 2012

Mike Leinbach.

Written by

Todd Halvorson
FLORIDA TODAY

At the north end of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is a launch complex where unmanned Atlas rockets blast off with super-secret national-security satellites.

Four towering lightning protection masts surround the pad, which also has been the embarkation point for robotic NASA spacecraft flying missions to the moon, Mars, Jupiter and Pluto.

Mike Leinbach looks out over the landscape and envisions something else: American astronauts riding an elevator to the top of a 22-story crew access tower, crossing a swing arm, and then boarding a U.S. spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas ...